Spider
by Artemisdesari
Summary: To the people of Ered Luin Spider is a myth, a shadowy figure brought among them by the Mad King of Erebor when the mountain fell to keep the dissenters in line. "Spider'll hear you," they warn when people complain about the low value of iron or coal.


**_A.N:_**_ Some mentions of child neglect and abuse. It goes a bit dark in places, though not deep into it._

* * *

_To the people of Ered Luin Spider is a myth, a shadowy figure brought among them by the Mad King of Erebor when the mountain fell to keep the dissenters in line._

_ "Spider'll hear you," they warn when people complain about the low value of iron or coal. _

_ "Watch for Spider's webs, " they'll add when someone mutters about the lives wasted on the attempts to reclaim Khazad-dum and the young king they have been left with._

**oOo**

He was fifteen the first time that his nimble fingers helped themselves to something not strictly his. His mother has lost interest in her children since his father's loss at the battle of Azanulbizar, although the sharp-eyed child was too young to remember ever having been doted upon. He had been born mere days after the army had marched off on its doomed mission to reclaim the lost stronghold.

"The loss of your One is painful," his brother will tell him, though he is only eleven years older and clearly isn't in a position to know or understand. All they both know is that their mother drinks more than she eats and that she will welcome any dwarf into her bed for a few coins when the money for her drink runs low. What little money they manage to sneak away from her, when she has drunk herself into insensibility, barely feeds them anymore. He is slender and delicate still, under nourished and gaunt even though his older brother gives what he can. Their mother guards her purse too well when she is awake and it takes ever more of the strong spirits she prefers to render her unconscious.

By the time the auburn haired child is in his twenties, he is stealing daily. He is old enough now to begin weapons training, but they don't have the money to pay the masters and he still looks like a child at any rate. He steals easily, his fingers light and his dirty clothes and wide eyes drawing sympathy from the right quarters.

It is inevitable that he would eventually draw someone's attention.

He freezes when the hand grabs him, the grip on his arm is tight enough to bruise even tough dwarf skin. It isn't a guard, he realises as they walk down a street and finally step into a house that looks like little more than a tumble-down shack. He would be in irons already if it were. He's going to die, he thinks. He has heard the stories about the thief children who disappear off the streets. Taken for trade or who knows what. Most dwarrow treasure their children, but there _are_ those (like his mother) who are too broken by their lives to notice if they disappeared, and every society has its disgusting underbelly.

The inside of the shack is deceptively well furnished, though it all shows signs of wear and tear. There are no holes in the roof, which is hidden from the outside by the ruins of a second storey which must be carefully maintained to protect what is inside. There is no natural light, of course, because the windows have all been boarded up, but his captor lights a lamp before he kicks the door closed, flooding the room with a dull orange glow.

"Sit," the other says, pushing him towards the table and for the first time the youth gets a good look at the one who has brought him here.

Everything about this dwarf is unremarkable. Dark hair, dark beard, dark eyes. A nose that would be considered just this side of attractive, his braids neat and simple, his beard well kept and both sparsely adorned with clasps of simple silver. He has no jewels or ornaments of any kind. His clothes are just as plain, drab brown such as those worn by all the miners and lower level traders in the town, and probably the other settlements that stretch across Ered Luin too. They're well made, but worn in places and patched in others. The hilt of his sword is undecorated, without even the runes of his family on display, and the leather wrapped around the hilt shines with age.

"I've been watching you, lad," the dwarf says, placing a tin plate with some bread and ham onto the table. "Eat," his captor orders. He looks at the food warily, it seems alright and he hasn't eaten for two days, the money they have has all gone on feeding Ori. "It is not poisoned," the dwarf chuckles, "I have a proposition for you. A job for one with talents such as yours."

"What sort of work?" He asks around a mouthful of food.

He has been offered jobs before, jobs for his pretty young face and nimble hands and innocent eyes. Jobs that he is too young to do or really understand except that the offers usually come from the sort of dwarf his **Amad **entertains in her room.

The dwarf smiles, his dark eyes glitter and his teeth flash. It is dangerous, but proud too, as though the question was the correct answer.

"What's your name, lad?" He asks.

" Nori, sir."

"Son of Ari?" The boy shivers, because the stranger knows _him _and must know **Amad. ** He nods. "They call me Cat."

**oOo**

He grows, although he will never reach the height and bulk he should have had due to his childhood malnourishment, and comes into the same famed strength as his mother (he stopped thinking of her as **Amad** a few months after Cat took him in, Cat cares more about his welfare than she ever did). He learns to fight, to use his hands and arms, legs and even his toes as weapons. He becomes familiar with a sword and all manner of other weapons but quickly realises that he prefers to fight with a multitude of little knives. He learns how to walk to be seen and how to walk to be ignored. He learns how to pick pockets to take and to return, to identify a mark and memorise their words. He learns a number of styles for his hair that would make his fussy older brother jealous and how his hair as much as anything else can be used to disguise his appearance. He learns to change his voice, his laugh, his smile, and how to build and live within an identity that is not his own.

Nori disappears and all that remains is Spider.

They call him Spider because he weaves his webs and waits. Inevitably whatever he is waiting for falls into it.

There are others, of course. He meets them and works with them over the years, and ultimately they drift in and out much as he comes to. Cat is their leader, who is far more than he seems or wishes them to know and who sorts through the information that they bring him, deciding what to do with it and who to take it to. Vixen, a sharp-tongued dwarrowdam who flits through the noble dwarf sectors like a sweet mist and the happiest memory. Bull, with his brutish strength and appearance which hides a sharp mind. Hawk, with his hooked nose, quiet feet and preference for the bow. Like Spider he waits silently, but he will swoop when his target appears and more often than not he is sent to deal with a problem rather than learn of it. His relationship with Spider is complicated, they are rivals as often as they are friends. There are others, Bulldog and Butterfly, Fox and Badger, Bear and Wasp, Hound and Lion. He doesn't know them as well, their paths rarely cross, but they work in their own groups as Spider does his.

They help him become someone else.

He works with Bull to become Essa, a jewel merchant who is often found in the south. He walks through the towns of Men with Bull at his back, his nose in the air, rich jewels woven into his hair and beard and an expression of utter disdain on his face, as though he could buy the entire settlement twice over and still have coin to spare. Essa is remembered and cursed for his high prices and sharp trading, but Spider moves freely in his simple clothes.

With Butterfly he becomes Torvig, they are a pair of travelling musicians and they spend eight years together in the Iron Hills, before Spider reaches his fifties, as Torvig and Sunna. There is a great deal of enjoyment in playing his flute while Butterfly sings and it is only Cat summoning them back upon the death of Nori's mother that makes them leave. Ori is barely forty and Spider's return has as much to do with ensuring Nori helps his brothers adapt to the loss as it does for allowing him to grieve for himself.

In Ered Luin he is Nori (or "that bloody thief" if Lady Dis is listening to Dwalin rant, he's far more creative _out_ of her hearing). If Dori and Ori weren't there it would be easier to forget the name of his birth, to lose who he was entirely as the others have done. It would be easier to be just Spider and form someone else to become when he has to be seen, as Cat becomes Khalen who owns a tavern of questionable repute. Instead he has to be Nori, a moderately successful thief who grifts where he can (with the help of Hawk, Bull and sometimes Vixen), steals when he can't grift and gets caught the appropriate number of times to be remembered before escaping and poking at Dwalin's injured pride in the process.

In truth, annoying Dwalin is the only part of being Nori that Spider really enjoys. He finds it easier to be Torvig or Essa than to remember how to be Nori. Nori was a scared child. Nori was lost and neglected, almost forgotten once Ori was born and became the priority in Dori's life. Whenever Nori is home Dori will spend much of his time berating him for his apparent career choice, regardless of the fact that the coin Nori brings in and the percentage of what Cat pays him that is delivered home whenever Spider is away makes feeding Ori easier. Dori will argue and complain about Nori's career rather than remember _why _Nori became a thief in the first place. After the more bitter arguments Nori will disappear for a time, as he used to as a child, but Spider will remain in town watching, waiting and listening, while helping Cat sort through the information that they all gather.

It is during one of these quiet months, when Dori has driven Nori away with bitter words and harsh regrets, while Spider is applying himself to sorting through the information the others have sent in that Cat comes to him. The search for Thorin is becoming more heated and Spider doesn't like the conclusions he is beginning to draw. Neither does Cat when Spider mentions it and his already grave expression turns dark.

"I have a mission for you," Cat says, "and you aren't going to like it much." Spider arches an eyebrow. "Thorin has hatched a scheme to reclaim Erebor and I need you among the company as Nori."

Spider mulls it over. He will have to be Nori for a long time, longer than he has in years. He can do it, of course, but there are other concerns associated with the task.

"I've already sent Vixen, Hawk and Bull ahead," Cat adds, a sure sign that he is more concerned than he wants to let on.

"You aren't coming?" Spider asks, usually when Cat is this bothered by something he handles it himself.

"I can't be involved or seen," Cat replies. "There are too many involved in this quest who would recognise me for who I was. I will speak with Thorin, however, on your behalf and ensure he keeps Dwalin under control. It is as much as I can do, but since your brothers have signed on, your presence will not be questioned."

Spider packs his things carefully, nothing that can connect Spider and Nori can make its way into his pack. Only the amulet he wears carefully tucked under his tunic might connect the two of them and only if one knows what to look for. Fortunately, he has made a point over the years of establishing his own style of fighting as part of Nori's, who is primarily a street brawler, so when it inevitably comes to a fight his odd skills won't be questioned. Then he slips out of town and finds a quiet place to put Spider into the back of his mind and become Nori.

This is where Nori's hairstyle comes into its own. Hair is important to all dwarrow and much of their identity is tied up in it. The same is true for all of the personalities Spider and the others like him create. Essa has fussy braids caught with jewelled clasps that draw the eye to them and away from his face, designed to catch the light and distract. Torvig wears his hair almost as simply as Spider does, a handful of braids that keep his russet locks out of the way of his flute as he plays. Nori's hair is difficult to style but the extravagance and awkwardness of it all is tied deeply into Nori's personality. Spider combs and braids and waxes until his hair stands in three tall peaks, which themselves hide a multitude of small items that might prove useful (including two knives, a set of picks and a few small purses of coins). It is a style as difficult, extravagant, slightly foolish and occasionally capricious as Nori can be. Spider's own plain clothes are covered with a worn coat of indeterminate age and then he ambles back into town, pack slung haphazardly over his shoulder, using Nori's rolling gait.

Cat should already be in Thorin's Halls convincing their king to allow Nori to join the quest and so he heads straight there, no need to get into a fight with Dori too soon as there will be no running off to cool his head this time. One day Dori will push Spider too far and Spider will push back. It is a dangerous path and not one that Spider wants to run the risk of treading, he doesn't believe he loves Dori anymore than he did their mother in the end, though he has some tender feelings for Ori.

Cat and Thorin have known each other for a long time, both in an official capacity and an unofficial one. Spider suspects they knew each other long before Cat shed his true name and _became _Cat, or Khalen the innkeeper.

"You say he is necessary?" He hears Thorin ask, he has arrived early and he pauses to listen. "Is he one of yours?"

"You know I can't answer that," Cat replies. "He's a thief and he's done a few jobs for me in the past, that's all that I can tell you." Cat's tone is different when he talks to Thorin than it is with anyone else. It's sadder, gentle almost, Spider would almost say _loving._ A former paramour, perhaps, before he gave up all such entanglements in favour of the job (families complicate the work too much, sometimes a mark needs to be seduced). A shield brother is almost as likely, the bonds there are strong he knows, or an old friend from the days of Erebor since Cat is certainly old enough. There is another option, but Spider dismisses it almost as soon as he thinks it.

"Dwalin will not like it."

"I don't expect him to," Cat agrees. "Just make sure he keeps his chain and axes to himself."

"_Cat,_" Thorin sighs. "Will _you_ not come instead?"

"You know I cannot," Cat's voice is rueful. "This part of my life is long over. I'm not _him _anymore and I don't know how to be either. I've been Cat and Khalen for too long to become _him_ again."

"She misses you."

"She has you," Cat responds. "And she has her boys. Keep them alive, Thorin, she has lost too much to lose them as well."

Spider retreats back down the corridor and counts to three hundred. When he returns Thorin is alone and Nori is signed into the Company with no questions asked.

**oOo**

Spider looks at the Company from over Nori's bowl of bland stew. This is worse than Cat had feared it might be. Their burglar clearly hadn't been expecting them. As a rule thieves, especially those for hire, dislike surprises. Surprises have a habit of making their veins spring a leak. A good thief will plan for surprises, a _great _thief plans for them and leaves enough room to think on their feet. The hobbit wouldn't last his first job. He's too soft, too twitchy, all but unravelled by the arrival of thirteen dwarves and a wizard and undone entirely just at the _mention _of the dragon. If the little creature doesn't prove to have a hidden seam of mithril in him, he won't make it as far as the Misty Mountains. Spider would almost be glad of it.

The young princes have as much business being on this quest as Ori does, which is to say _none._ He has heard much of them from Vixen over the years, she spends enough time in those circles now that she has established herself although she still hasn't managed to get into Lady Dis' inner circle, and if anything he thinks that she might have toned those reports down somewhat. Fair enough, the mountain is their birthright, but they are reckless and impulsive. Not to mention the last of the line. Lady Dis will never remarry, the succession is secure with two heirs and she has lost one husband with no desire to take another. There was the rumour, for a time, that she and Dwalin had spent a number of years entertaining one another, but Cat hadn't allowed Spider to investigate further and once the rumours died down it was allowed to rest. Even if the Company doesn't run into any trouble putting the entire male side of the royal line, and just about every _other_ available heir to the throne of Erebor, in a position to get roasted by a dragon is the height of foolishness. The boys are rash, brash and far too content in the assumption of their own invulnerability (as all youths tend to be) to be cautious where it might be necessary. They fear their uncle's ire more than they do the possibility of death.

Bofur, Bifur and Bombur are old acquaintances of Nori's and therefore the closest things to friends that he has, but they are not highly trained warriors as dwarves would have it. They have far greater skill and ability than any Man would, but they are miners and toy makers first and soft from years with too little coin to join a caravan and travel to ply their trades. Oin doesn't bother much with him and Gloin hides his coin purse in a different place every day and assumes that Spider doesn't see (he does). Balin treats him with mild curiosity, as Ori's older brother and Dwalin's favourite thing to rant about, and the sharp eyed old dwarf might be the only one to realise, apart from Thorin, that Nori is not quite what he seems to be. Spider has to be particularly careful about the consistency of Nori's character with Balin around. Dwalin settles for glaring at him at every opportunity, evidently having given Thorin his word that he will not start anything, although Nori teases and taunts at every opportunity and it's a little bit too enjoyable to see Dwalin grind his teeth together and deepen his scowl. Thorin ignores him, for the most part, as he does most of the rest of them except for Fili and Kili. The wizard watches it all with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes and a sly wink towards Spider when no one else is looking. Whether that is because he knows that Nori isn't quite what he appears or he simply finds the thief's wary gaze amusing Spider couldn't say, but he was never trained to deal with wizards. He isn't sure that one really deals with them anyway.

Bofur makes a crude joke and Spider retreats. He immerses himself into Nori fully, laughs Nori's high and bright laugh, flirts outrageously with his old friend (who knows that nothing will ever come of it) and sends lascivious grins Dwalin's way when the old guard belts Fili and Kili about the ears and orders them to practice.

**oOo**

Spider has never been to Rivendell. In truth he avoids the place and that now turns out to be a good thing because the last thing that he needs is to be recognised as Torvig or Essa and have to answer a lot of awkward questions.

Nori, of course, is a moderately successful thief. Which means that in a place such as this he would definitely pilfer a few trinkets, both to annoy the elves and to keep his hand in. The items themselves, of course, are almost worthless unless one has a taste for elven decor, which dwarves don't, but the silver they are made from can be melted down and used for something else. Spider uses it as an opportunity to gather what information he can about Rivendell. What he discovers is, frankly, disappointing. The only information of any worth here is the fact that a Dúnedain woman and her son are in permanent residence. The boy is, by all accounts, is being fostered by Lord Elrond, which makes him a child of note among his people, and goes by the name Estel. Spider doesn't believe for a moment that is the child's true name, but he lacks the time and the resources to dig deeper. He cannot be away from the Company too often or for too long without arousing suspicion.

Aside from discovering how they will be getting inside Erebor, Rivendell is little more than a waste of time. Spider grins Nori's bright smile and helps the two princes create mischief while teaching them a few new tricks for concealing blades and the kind of tiny knife tricks that could save their lives which Dwalin would deem too dishonourable to teach them. Just because the entire line of succession is on this quest, baring Dain and his boy, doesn't mean that it will be entirely without danger. Their entry to Rivendell alone has proved that to be an erroneous assumption.

Thorin is being hunted and Spider is now more certain that he was when he left Ered Luin that he knows who has ordered it. The pieces fit a little bit too neatly together for it to have been anyone else, though Thorin has a great number of enemies none of the rest would stoop so low as to send orcs after him. Spider could have cheerfully lived for the rest of his days without confirming Cat's suspicion of _that_. He manages to find a raven not long before they leave, likely sent his way by Cat anyway, and sends a message. Better that Cat know the white orc hunts them. Perhaps he will send some of the others because this is beyond Spider being able to handle alone. Bulldog, Hound and Fox are with a caravan somewhere around Rohan, it would only take a raven to divert them north and Spider thinks that Thorin could use all the help that he can get.

It is somewhat frustrating to discover, as they are leaving under cover of darkness, that the entire White Council is meeting in Rivendell. _That_ would have been a meeting to witness and a diamond for his crown.

**oOo**

Spider retreats behind Nori for weeks after Erebor. There is little information to gather, aside from the safety and condition of the roads, and it becomes difficult to maintain a character if he switches between himself and the personality too frequently. Cat recalls him to Ered Luin often enough for him to keep in practice with being Nori, and keeps him there longer if it is felt that Spider has lost too much of the thief behind the spy. Out in the wild with the Company Spider is able to allow Nori to grow a little bit, the subtle sort of changes that would seem odd or out of place to Dori or Ori in Ered Luin make more sense out here. Nori is away more than he is home and it stands to reason that he would know more about being on the road than they would. He has not, however, been gone for more than a couple of weeks at a time for nearly a decade and so Spider cannot warn Thorin that the pass which he has been directed to take as the safest is no longer one that they should use.

The only reason that Spider knows it at all is that Butterfly returned to New Belegost six months late and half dead three years back, reporting that Wasp had been killed by goblins in this pass and that the only reason she had managed to escape at all was the arrival of an elf. Cat's people have never been able to get into Goblin Town to find out anything much about it beyond the rumours or what little information they can extract from any goblin they might capture. There has been precious little to go on and Spider catalogues everything that he can even as he fights to escape from the place. He has no wish to end up like Wasp, and they still haven't managed to find a replacement.

Spider doesn't retreat into Nori again once they are out of the mountain. Everyone else is too keyed up to notice that his words are sharper, his movements more clipped. There is still too much of the thrill of battle in them to see the way that his green eyes dart around them, cataloguing every detail and tucking it away to analyse later. He needs the focus that being Spider gives him, he cannot be flighty the way that Nori usually is. He watches as the young princes huddle together to check on each other, sees how Thorin watches them all with wild eyes that cannot quite hide the fear and despair that the Goblin King's hints about Azog the Defiler have awoken in him. He sees how Dwalin lingers close to his king in silent support but acknowledges Spider's watchful eyes with a respectful nod. He hears Gandalf's counting and the litany of names that fall from the wizard's lips until he demands, almost frantically, to know the whereabouts of Bilbo Baggins.

This is information that he passes on a little more cruelly than he might if he had allowed himself to take on Nori's traits again. His mind is too busy with other things to care. Bilbo managed to slip away, that is all he knows and all he can do about the matter. The Goblin King had mentioned sending word that Thorin had been captured and unless distances work very strangely under these mountains and their flight has exhausted him more than he had thought it has been at least a day since their capture. Azog will know of them by now.

Bilbo's reappearance is perplexing, especially considering that he managed to slip among them with far more ease than he has previously displayed. Spider notes that he will need to investigate that more when he gets the opportunity. The hobbit is at least as filthy as they are, scraped and bruised and there is blood enough down the side of his face to indicate that he must have struck his head at some point. There isn't the time for it now, however, because his suspicions are correct Azog will be upon them at any moment.

Sometimes, Spider hates being right.

**oOo**

Spider tucks Nori back into a corner of his mind again as they are led to the Mirkwood cells. This is not the time to be the capricious thief, no matter the risk involved in exposing the truth of himself to the others. The elf king already has three other prisoners, he notes, and while their faces are not quite as familiar to him as those of the ones he works with regularly, Spider knows Bulldog, Fox and Hound well enough to recognise them. Bulldog, at least, also notices him and she makes the gesture of recognition at him as he passes. He wriggles his fingers in return before being unceremoniously shoved into a cell with Dori (worst luck) and Hound (not much better).

Hound, as his name suggests, is their tracker. Spider has worked with him twice and neither experience was pleasant. Hound is difficult to work with at the best of times, which is why he is rarely without Fox and Bulldog. The pair of them keep him in line, for the most part, which makes sense if the rumours are true. They certainly like him more than the rest of them do. Given a choice, Spider would prefer not to have Hound anywhere near him.

"What are you doing here?" Spider demands.

"Khalen sent Skorva, Din and me to the Iron Hills," Hound replies. Spider recognises the names, of course, as they are favoured aliases of the three of them. That of course, means that Hound is Ravik. "We were running behind schedule and decided to cut through Mirkwood."

"You _know _him, Nori?" Dori demands, which at least saves Spider from having to find a way to discretely alert Hound to the name he is using.

"Ravik and I worked a few jobs together," Spider replies sharply, flicking a quick warning at Hound. The burly dwarf relaxes back a little. "Din's had no luck getting out?" Fox is almost as good at getting out of tight spots as Spider.

"Elf door," Hound shrugs and Spider groans.

Elf locks are well known for only opening when unlocked with the same key that they were locked with. They will have to wait to be released, either by Thorin striking a deal with Thranduil (unlikely) or Bilbo proving to be a more competent burglar than Spider believes him to be.

So, they wait and Spider watches. The princes, Spider notes, are paired with Bulldog and Fox. Bulldog is an older dwarrowdam, closer in age to Lady Dis than either of the boys and it shows in the way that she treats Kili's youthful, and likely bored, attempts at flirting. Fox, however, is only a decade older than Fili and the pair of young dwarrow strike up a firm friendship of sorts over their weeks together. Spider would be concerned, but Fox knows how to build friendships outside of their peculiar little family.

These are uncomfortable weeks for Spider, who has to play Nori as best he can while trapped under Dori's scrutiny and barbed words that just don't have the same sting in them that they might have should Nori never have encountered Cat. He doesn't sleep much, Spider never does, and it allows him to use Bilbo to alert Thorin to the fact that they will have three additional companions when they make their escape. Thorin is understandably displeased to learn that Cat has been sending additional agents this way, and even more so to realise that Nori is more than a thief Cat has occasionally employed.

Spider is glad of them when they do escape, however. There are just enough barrels for all of them to squeeze into and because Spider is on the lookout for trouble he realises that the river gate will be closed by the time they reach it as soon as he spots it. Hound and Bulldog obviously conclude the same thing, hopping from their barrels as soon as they are close enough and racing in from opposite sides to distract the elves. The arrival of the orcs is unfortunate, but trapped in the middle as he and Fox are there is little that Spider can do to help his fellows. He _is_ close enough to Kili, however, to grab the youth when he tries to climb out of his barrel to do the same thing that Bulldog and Hound are already attempting.

There is a roar from above, just as the gate begins to swing open, and Spider realises that the voice belongs to Hound as he sees Bulldog's body fall into the river as still as stone. She and Hound have long been involved, Spider knows for certain after the weeks locked up with Hound, and there are more rumours that Fox is their child. Given the stricken expression on the young dwarf's face Spider can well believe it.

"Fox, focus!" He barks, tossing one of the few knives that the elves didn't manage to find at an orc that might have taken the young one's head.

People in their line of work rarely live long. Bulldog and Hound were lucky to get all the years that they did. Spider fully expects to meet his end very soon, but that doesn't mean that he will welcome it when it does. Fox nods, snatches the sword from the orc as it tumbles into the river and joins the battle to escape both elves and orcs.

By the time they reach the shore Spider has been tucked away again and there is only Nori with his bright grin and sharp eyes in his place. It gets easier to do every time.

**oOo**

Spider dislikes the gold. Truth be told he wants to immerse himself in it and never come out. He has bled for it, sacrificed for it, risked his neck and his secrets for it. He _should_ be allowed to possess all of it that he has been promised. That, however, is where madness lies and Spider despises things that mess with his mind. The dragon's spell is insidious, it creeps in and would ensnare Spider easily enough were it not for Fox and the news that Vixen, Hawk and Bull are waiting to talk to him outside. Away from the hoard, in the clean air that carries the bite of early winter, Spider finds his mind clearing.

Their report is not pretty. They've been scouting the area since they arrived almost a month ago, ranging as far from the mountain as they dared as they realised that the area was showing signs of an increase in orc activity, messengers travelling towards Gundabad from the south beyond the groups that have clearly been searching for Thorin and the Company. Hawk fears they will attack soon, very likely as soon as Dain arrives if not before. They are not in a position to survive a siege.

"I agree," a new voice says and they all reach for their weapons, though they should have been more alert, only to relax when Cat emerges from the rocks around them. "We will have to trust to the grace of Mahal that Dain will get here first and bring a large enough army with him if things are as bad as you say in the mountain, Spider."

"What are you doing here, Cat?" He demands. This is _his_ operation, Vixen and the others know that they are to answer to him. "You clearly told me that there were a good number of reasons that you couldn't come."

"There were and there still are," Cat nods, turning to look towards the lake. Lake Town stopped smouldering days ago, but Spider can still see the flames sometimes when he closes his eyes. All of Cat's training could never have prepared him to face a dragon. "Azog and I have our own score to settle," Cat adds grimly, "and I mean to be here to do it."

Now that he is as familiar with Thorin, Fili and Kili as he is Spider is now very able to see the similarities between the three of them and Cat. Cat has all of Kili's colouring, but his nose is closest in shape to Fili's and his bearing too like Thorin's to be a coincidence. Thrain had three children, Spider knows, and Prince Frerin was supposedly killed at Azanulbizar. Spider no longer believes that, he isn't sure that he ever really did. Before he left Ered Luin, he had rejected this very possibility, now he knows that it was foolish of him to do so. Cat is no former friend or lover of Thorin. Cat is Prince Frerin.

Interesting.

Cat turns his gaze on Spider, fathomless dark eyes watching as he figures out this final part of the puzzle as though assessing what he will do with it. Then the others are ordered away and Cat meets Spider's eyes with a deadly glare, as though challenging the younger to do something with the information.

"Will you stay when this is over?" Spider asks, disappointed that Cat thinks he would be stupid enough to attempt to blackmail him. "Will you run things here the way you did at home? Or will you go back to Ered Luin and watch over them from afar?"

"I will stay," Cat replies, "I always intended to come back once Erebor was reclaimed. But Thorin must never know. _You _will run things here, Spider, and I will watch and travel. It will be easier to hide that way."

Spider will be doomed to spend the rest of his life half as Nori and half as himself. For the first time he wonders if maybe he should have refused Cat's offer all those years ago. He very likely would have died on the streets in his twenties, starving and forgotten, but perhaps that would have been better in the end.

"One of the heroes of Erebor reclaimed cannot simply vanish," Cat points out. "But Nori can be anyone here. He'll be wealthy and connected, in the kind of position that Vixen has been working towards for years."

Vixen, Spider thinks, might have accomplished that goal if she had spent more time focusing on _that_ and less time working her way through the beds of all the young and available dwarrow connected to the court. Spider heard Fili and Kili frequently discussing Lady Hela and how much they had enjoyed all the fun they had together back in Ered Luin. Dori had naturally been horrified, but many of those familiar with Vixen's alter-ego had laughed. No one is perfect, however, and Vixen is the youngest of them, a foundling raised practically from infancy to be exactly what Cat needed her to be. Much as he has apparently been grooming Spider into his ideal replacement for all of these years.

"Fine," Spider huffs," we'll play it that way. Keep the others out of sight and away from any fighting if it breaks out. If Azog shows up I want them focused on cutting off the head of the snake before Thorin gets it into his mind to do it himself. I've seen enough evidence to show that he doesn't think clearly where that orc is concerned."

Cat nods and Spider clambers back into the mountain.

**oOo**

Bilbo definitely turns out to be a better burglar than Spider could ever have dreamed he could be. The hobbit managed to make off with the Mahal damned _Arkenstone, _of all things, right under Spider's nose. He finds himself hoping, however, that Cat is too far away to see what the gold has turned Thorin into; Mad King Thror reborn. It may yet end up that they have no choice but to order Hawk to deal with the King Under the Mountain permanently. They cannot bring their people back to Erebor to be ruled over by a lunatic. Fili, however, is still too young to take on the role of king, even though he has grown up a great deal in the months of this journey, and Spider would feel some small measure of regret at the necessity. He has long stopped making true friends or forming bonds beyond those necessary to complete a job, but he _has_ grown close to the Company, regardless of his intentions on the matter.

Battle comes for them and even with the warnings from Vixen, Bull and Hawk Spider is still unprepared for the enormity of it. The part of him that is still Nori, even after all these years, wants to stay close to his brothers and watch over them. Spider knows that he cannot. Spider and Fox must join the others and hunt down Azog before Thorin can go blundering in on his own. As usual, however, Mahal is not on their side and it is Hawk who spots Thorin, Fili, Kili and Dwalin heading up to Ravenhill where Azog is practically taunting them with his presence. In all honesty, the white orc might as well be waving around a large sign with the word 'trap' on written on it, because that is obviously what this is. Thorin has an obvious blind spot where Azog is concerned, however.

It is somewhat distressing to realise that Cat has exactly the same one.

Cat charges ahead before Spider can form any sort of plan and so the five of them follow, dodging enemy forces as best they can even though it slows them down. They reach the tower to find Thorin and Dwalin alone, no sign of Cat, Fili or Kili, and Spider's heart sinks. The young princes must have been sent to scout ahead and no doubt Cat has gone after them.

"Hawk, find a good vantage point and pick off anything that comes out way," Spider orders. Hawk nods and the rest follow, slipping past Thorin and Dwalin and into the tower. "Vixen, take Fox and search the lower levels. If I know Fili-"

"He will have sent Kili _away _from where he thinks the danger might be," Vixen finishes, proving she has spent more time with the boys than she has previously reported. "You and Bull?"

"Will go up," Spider confirms. "But I have a nasty feeling we'll find Fili, Cat _and_ Azog up there." Bull grins, obviously itching for a fight.

"Be careful," Vixen tells them.

"And you," Spider nods. "Don't let the little prince distract you, or convince you to do anything _other_ than get him away from here. Do you understand?"

"Would I ever?" Vixen grins wickedly.

"Frequently," Spider deadpans. "_Go_." The pair dart away and he sighs, signalling Bull to follow as he begins to make his way upwards.

For all of his confidence this is _not_ what Cat trained them for. They are trained to watch and gather all the information that they can. Trained to protect Durin's descendants from dangers that those like Dwalin and his guard cannot foresee. They find themselves in bad situations as often as not, and so they have been trained to fight to the very best of their ability, but they are not meant to be a part of a pitched battle like they this. They were not designed to go into an already sprung trap and pull the victims out of it before it kills them. Still, it isn't the first time that they have had to rescue one of their own and Spider treats this as he would that, though the enemy now is orcs rather than Men or other dwarves. Orcs are at least a little bit more predictable.

They climb the tower carefully, clearing each floor as well as they can on the way, until they hear fighting above them and abandon stealth and care to race upwards. The trap is already sprung and Fili and Cat are fighting back to back with orcs approaching from both sides, cut off from the exit by several abnormally large specimens. Azog is obviously taunting them, both are clearly tiring after their long journeys and the hours of fighting before now, the large white orc pushes his minions ever closer, crowding in on the two dwarves but obviously not aiming to kill them just yet. Spider has a sinking feeling he knows what Azog intends to do with them. _He_ may have failed to recognise Frerin but there is no way that Azog will have made the same mistake. Cat spots them as they cut down the orcs blocking their way, drawing their attention and easing the pressure on the other two. Bull comes into his own during a fight like this, swinging his heavy axes but moving with all the grace of a dancer. There were enough orcs in this corridor to overwhelm one or two dwarves, but with the addition of Spider and Bull the odds become more even and they cut their way through quickly.

"Take him," Cat shouts, shoving an obviously injured Fili Spider's way. "Get him out of here!" Azog roars something, Spider was never good with Blackspeech, and begins to cut his way through his own followers.

"Not without you, Cat!" He calls back.

"_Do it_, Spider!" Cat returns.

"I'll cover," Bull says, "you take him."

For a moment Spider feels as helpless as he did when he was still a child, still Nori and his mother was screaming in her room as she brought Ori into the world. It is only a moment, however, and then he has taken Fili's arm in his hand and he is dragging the younger dwarf down and out.

"We have to go back!" Fili cries. "Do you have any idea who that is, Nori?"

"Better than you," Spider hisses. "Far better than you, _boy._ Now move."

Then they are outside and Vixen and Fox are there with Kili held tightly between them. The younger prince sags when he sees his brother, relief naked and desperate covers his face and Spider wishes he could feel that, but he knows that the next time he sees Cat, and very likely Bull too, it will be his corpse. Between the three of them they get the two princes back up to Thorin and Dwalin, who have been joined by Bilbo and a number of goblins that have appeared from Mahal knows where. The three are holding their own well enough, aided by Hawk who is picking the creatures off from his perch high above.

"Spider!" He shouts, raising his arm to point and Spider follows the direction to the top of the tower.

Azog stands there, Cat gripped tightly in one hand and Bull knelt at his feet. Even from this distance Spider can see the blood that is sluggishly running off the side of the tower from Bull's position. Alerted by Hawk's shout everyone turns to look and there is a startled gasp from Dwalin and a strangled groan from Thorin.

"He fell at Azanulbizar," Dwalin hisses and Azog laughs, the sound dark and filthy. He shakes Cat, hard.

"Take the boys, Thorin," Cat shouts, and Spider turns his eyes onto Hawk. The archer is trying to line up a shot, but the way that Azog is moving and swaying as he taunts Thorin with his lost brother makes it harder to aim without risking hurting the dwarf he holds.

"First this one," Azog says, kicking Bull off the side of the tower. Vixen lets out an aborted scream at the sight, still so young, and Fili clings onto her. "Then your brother, then the whelps, and finally you, Oakenshield."

Above them, Hawk curses as Azog moves again. They have little choice, unless Azog puts Cat down on the ledge their leader is dead as soon as Hawk looses his arrow regardless of whether he is hit by it or not. Hawk obviously comes to the same conclusion, but still too late for Cat who's mouth goes slack with shock as the hideous prosthesis that has replaced the orc's arm emerges from his chest. Thorin screams and Spider can only imagine the depth of his grief, to watch the brother he had believed safe and hidden killed this way after such an obvious sign that Frerin was still himself in all the ways that mattered.

"Hawk!" Spider roars. They are out of time, they need to end this as there is another army coming and they are about to be over run.

Hawk fires.

Azog falls.

His troops groan.

A second white orc emerges from the tower below them only to be struck by Azog's falling body and impaled on the same metal spike that took Cat's life.

**oOo**

_To the people of Erebor, safe in their reclaimed home and happy in the knowledge that there is work for everyone, Spider is the reason that Thorin II Oakenshield sits upon his throne with his sister's sons at his side, instead of entombed below them or mourning his losses._

_Even if no one can agree which member of the famed Company Spider could possibly be._

* * *

_**A.N: **__The danger of moving is that when you're unpacking you find half finished fics. I thought I had cleared most of them out but upon looking for a notebook so that I could make note of what needs to be fixed up in the new house (as opposed to just writing everything and having done with it). I found a notebook and discovered this inside, half written and stopped mid sentence. I don't know why, I don't even really recall writing it although it's in my handwriting and I had ample notes on where it was going. So I finished writing it while waiting for various contractors to answer their phones. It's amazing how hard it is to get hold of someone to restore a heavily damaged wooden floor and staircase._

_Quite where this came from I don't know. I don't even know where the host of other characters came from either. I'm just emptying my brain as I go along at this point._


End file.
